Ireland handed tough Euro draw

THE draws for the European Basketball Championships were made in Venice on Saturday.

Ireland’s senior men, under the tutelage of recently-appointed coach Jay Larranaga, face a bumper campaign with Georgia and Slovakia Republic coming to the National Basketball Arena with away trips to Sweden and Luxembourg.

Meanwhile, the Irish senior women’s side face difficult assignments away to Montenegro, Switzerland and the powerful Netherlands.

Senior Men: Slovak Rep, Georgia, Ireland, Sweden, Luxembourg. Schedule: Sweden (a) Sept 6, Georgia (h) Sept 10, Lux (a), Sept 13, Slovak Rep (h) Sept 20.

Senior Women: Ireland, Netherlands, Iceland, Switzerland, Slovenia, Montenegro.

Schedule: Montenegro (a) Aug 28, Slovenia (h) Aug 30, Switz (a) Sept 3, Iceland (h), Sept 6, Netherlands (a) Sept 10.

U20 Men: Ireland, Germany, Sweden, Czech Rep, Azerbaijan.

Schedule: Czech Rep Aug 2, Germany Aug 3, Azerbaijan Aug 4, Sweden Aug 5.

U20 Women: Great Britain, Ireland, Slovak Republic, Romania, Hungary.

Schedule: Hungary July 11, Slovak Rep July 12, Great Britain July 13, Romania July 15.

U18 Men: Slovenia, Switzerland , Bosnia, Sweden, Ireland.

Schedule: Switz July 25, Bosnia & Herz July 27, Slovenia July 28, Sweden July 29.

U18 Women: Ireland, Scotland, England, Belgium, Latvia.

Schedule: Belgium Aug 7, Scotland Aug 8, Latvia August 9, England Aug 10.

U16 Men: Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Finland , Sweden, Portugal, Ireland.

Schedule: Finland Aug 15, Sweden Aug 17, FYROM Aug 18, Portugal Aug 19.

U16 Women: Bulgaria, Luxemburg, Ireland, Slovenia, Switzerland.

Schedule: Slovenia Aug 8, Luxembourg Aug 9, Switz Aug 10, Bulgaria Aug 12.